Should Maryland Carry Out the Premeditated
Killing
of Vernon Evans?by Kevin Zeese
www.dissidentvoice.org
February 7, 2006

Maryland's
premeditated killing of Vernon Evans wasstayedby the Maryland
Court of Appeals yesterday. The State's use of the power to kill another
human should be a time for reflection by Maryland and the nation. Do we
want to be a nation of executioners? Do we want to participate in killing
people through a very flawed justice system? Do we want to continue to
continue the cycle of violence?

There are many
questions about the death penalty generally, how it is applied in Maryland
and how it was applied in Evans' case. There is no question that the U.S.
justice system is imperfect. I know from having been a practicing criminal
lawyer that mistakes are made, biases exist and wealth makes a difference
in US courts. The questions about the death penalty are so significant
that 106 nations, most civilized countries, have abolished it. The United
States, Iran and China are the most prolific executioners in the world.

The Maryland court
system has a record of false convictions in death penalty cases. For
example, in 1993Kirk Bloodsworthwas freed after DNA
testing proved his innocence. Yet, he had been convicted twice by Maryland
courts. In the past 30 years, 122 inmates were found to be innocent and
released from death row.

In 2003, the U.S.
Supreme Court -- often hostile to death penalty defendants -- overturned
the death sentence of Kevin Wigginsin Maryland because
of ineffective assistance of counsel. Ineffective counsel in death cases
is all too common. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said: “I have yet to
see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on
eve-of-execution stay application in which the defendant was well
represented at trial.” A death sentence seems to have more to do with the
defense lawyer than the defendant.

A 2003 study
conducted by the University of Maryland found that racial bias impacts
capital punishment in Maryland. A defendant is twice as likely to receive
the death penalty if the victim is white. And if the defendant is black
and the victim is white the odds are even greater. Further, geography
matters. In Maryland, Baltimore County is 13 times more likely to
institute a death sentence then across the border in Baltimore City.

All of these
weaknesses -- racial bias, poor defense lawyering, geographic bias -- have
shown themselves in the case of Vernon Evans.

Evans was prosecuted
in Baltimore County where the State’s Attorney says he will seek the death
penalty in every “death-eligible” crime. In fact, the UMD Study
found the office sought death in 99 of 152 death-eligible crimes.

Evans was the
“typical” death penalty defendant -- he was African American and the
victims were white. The Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office ensured
no African Americans would be on the jury. The prosecutor used 8 of his 10
peremptory strikes against African Americans, even though they were only
31% of members that the State had an opportunity to strike from the jury.

The jury never heard
compelling evidence that showed Evans was not guilty of the actual
shooting. In Maryland only the actual shooter is eligible for a death
sentence. Yet witnesses -- including the only eyewitness to the crime
itself -- never testified at Vernon’s trial or sentencing. Since then, the
eyewitness has testified under oath that the shooter was taller than
Vernon (who is only 5feet-2inches and nicknamed “Shorty”) and that the
shooter’s clothes did not match what Vernon was wearing at the time of the
murders. Two other witnesses have corroborated this account and cast doubt
on the State’s witnesses. Why didn't they testify? A combination of poor
defense lawyering and the failure of the prosecutor to provide defense
lawyers with FBI witness reports.

The jury was also
not told of mitigating circumstances that would normally be considered in
sentencing someone to death. Evans suffered frequent, severe beatings at
the hands of his father and was sexually assaulted by a stranger as a
young boy. Vernon’s first suicide attempt came at the age of ten. His
family sought no treatment for him, and he turned to alcohol and drugs in
his early teens. The jury was not told this critical information and no
court ever reviewed the performance of his counsel at sentencing.

And, the jury was
misled to believe that Evans might be released on parole when in fact he
was facing a sentence of life with no possibility of parole. Jurors in
Evans case have said they would have sentenced him to life if they had the
option. Today, Maryland jurors do have that choice.

The death penalty is
akin to being struck by lightening in the criminal justice system. The
odds increase based on the color of the victim, the color of the accused,
geography and most importantly the quality of legal representation. But
only 2% of known murderers are sentenced to death. Some of the most
heinous murders do not result in death sentences, while less heinous
crimes are punished by death. The National Law Journal concluded
that capital trials are “more like a random flip of the coin than a
delicate balancing of scales” of justice.

On December 2, 2005,
the United States carried out its 1,000th execution since capital
punishment was reinstated in 1976 when Kenneth Boyd was killed in North
Carolina. Boyd's lawyer, Thomas Maher, after watching the execution, said,
“This 1,000th execution is a milestone. It's a milestone we should all be
ashamed of.” The cycle for violence brutalizes all of us, deadens our
sensitivity to the precious nature of every single human life. Rather than
pandering to the lust for revenge let us hope that Vernon Evans breaks the
cycle and stops further killing by Maryland and throughout the United
States.